Sugar, biofuel, and even plastics are made from sugarcane
Scientists have developed several sustainable alternatives, including sugarcane-based plastics. In 2010 Braskem, a Brazilian chemical company commissioned a facility that would produce I’m green™ Polyethylene, a plastic derived from ethanol sugarcane.
Because sugarcane captures CO2 as it grows, the manufacturing of sugarcane-based plastics usually has a neutral impact on climate change. Unlike oil and natural gas, sugarcane is renewable because it regenerates quickly. The constant rainfall of the tropical climate in Brazil provides crops with plenty of water.
In the case of I’m green Polyethylene, buyers at the company purchase sugarcane-based ethanol, the same substance that often fuels cars. Then their machines convert the chemical to ethylene, a colorless gas. In a reactor, the ethylene transforms into polyethylene, a solid that can be molded into plastic products. This material has physical and chemical properties that are similar to petroleum-based plastic, but the process of making it is much more sustainable.
Next time you purchase a bottle of drink, check the label on the back. If It is made of sugarcane-based plastic, you realize how much eco-based plastics are around us.
Sources:
- https://youtu.be/ivLK1Ug2LAM
- https://blog.publicgoods.com/are-sugarcane-based-plastics-a-sustainable-alternative-to-petroleum/
- https://vivifychangecatalyst.wordpress.com/2018/02/14/braskem-innovation-and-sugarcane/
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